Objective To determine an optimal population red blood cell (RBC) folate concentration for the prevention of neural tube birth defects. Design Bayesian model. Setting Data from two population based studies in China.Participants 247 831 participants in a prospective community intervention project in China (1993-95) to prevent neural tube defects with 400 μg/day folic acid supplementation and 1194 participants in a population based randomized trial to evaluate the effect of folic acid supplementation on blood folate concentration among Chinese women of reproductive age.

C/EBP homologous protein (Chop) has been shown to have altered expression in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), but its exact role in IPF pathoaetiology has not been fully addressed. Studies conducted in patients with IPF and Chop(-/-) mice have dissected the role of Chop and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in pulmonary fibrosis pathogenesis. The effect of Chop deficiency on macrophage polarization and related signalling pathways were investigated to identify the underlying mechanisms. Patients with IPF and mice with bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis were affected by the altered Chop expression and ER stress. In particular, Chop deficiency protected mice against BLM-induced lung injury and fibrosis. Loss of Chop significantly attenuated transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) production and reduced M2 macrophage infiltration in the lung following BLM induction. Mechanistic studies showed that Chop deficiency repressed the M2 program in macrophages, which then attenuated TGF-β secretion. Specifically, loss of Chop promoted the expression of suppressors of cytokine signaling 1 and suppressors of cytokine signaling 3, and through which Chop deficiency repressed signal transducer and activator of transcription 6/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma signaling, the essential pathway for the M2 program in macrophages. Together, our data support the idea that Chop and ER stress are implicated in IPF pathoaetiology, involving at least the induction and differentiation of M2 macrophages.

BackgroundUnderstanding the molecular mechanisms of flowering and maturity is important for improving the adaptability and yield of seed crops in different environments. In soybean, a facultative short-day plant, genetic variation at four maturity genes, E1 to E4, plays an important role in adaptation to environments with different photoperiods. However, the molecular basis of natural variation in time to flowering and maturity is poorly understood. Using a cross between early-maturing soybean cultivars, we performed a genetic and molecular study of flowering genes. The progeny of this cross segregated for two maturity loci, E1 and E9. The latter locus was subjected to detailed molecular analysis to identify the responsible gene.ResultsFine mapping, sequencing, and expression analysis revealed that E9 is FT2a, an ortholog of Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS T. Regardless of daylength conditions, the e9 allele was transcribed at a very low level in comparison with the E9 allele and delayed flowering. Despite identical coding sequences, a number of single nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions/deletions were detected in the promoter, untranslated regions, and introns between the two cultivars. Furthermore, the e9 allele had a Ty1/copia–like retrotransposon, SORE-1, inserted in the first intron. Comparison of the expression levels of different alleles among near-isogenic lines and photoperiod-insensitive cultivars indicated that the SORE-1 insertion attenuated FT2a expression by its allele-specific transcriptional repression. SORE-1 was highly methylated, and did not appear to disrupt FT2a RNA processing.ConclusionsThe soybean maturity gene E9 is FT2a, and its recessive allele delays flowering because of lower transcript abundance that is caused by allele-specific transcriptional repression due to the insertion of SORE-1. The FT2a transcript abundance is thus directly associated with the variation in flowering time in soybean. The e9 allele may maintain vegetative growth in early-flowering genetic backgrounds, and also be useful as a long-juvenile allele, which causes late flowering under short-daylength conditions, in low-latitude regions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-016-0704-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.